1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to door chimes and, more particularly, to an electronic door chime having a programmable note sequence.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Electro-mechanical door chimes are especially popular for residential applications. These chimes typically are operated by closing a push-button switch which completes an electrical circuit for actuating an electro-mechanical striker and producing an audible chime.
Many electro-mechanical door chimes currently available include means for causing more than one tone to be sounded each time a door chime actuating switch is closed. A common approach is to cause a first tone to sound upon closing the switch followed by sounding a second tone upon opening the switch.
Other electro-mechanical door chimes include several electro-mechanical strikers and tone bars for producing a multi-note sequence in response to a single closing of an actuating switch. These chimes are adaptable to producing different length tone sequence in response to closing different actuating switches.
These relatively simple door chimes usually produce note sequences of only a few notes each time an actuating switch is closed and opened.
More elaborate arrangements have been developed to provide longer and more complicated note sequences. For example, the electric door chime described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,431,787 employs a motorized switching arrangement for actuating a plurality of chimes according to a prewired sequence. The approach there described, however, is subject to reliability problems commonly found in electro-mechanical devices and becomes increasingly more expensive as the number of notes increases. In addition, it is difficult to change the note sequence should the user desire to do so.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an electronic door chime having a multi-note sequence which is programmable, i.e., can be easily changed to suit user preference.
It is a further object of the invention to provide an electronic door chime which identifies the location of the person seeking entry by playing a programmable multi-note sequence the length of which identifies the location of the closed actuating switch.
It is another object of the invention to provide a programmable electronic door chime having control circuitry to adjust note duration, frequency, and note rate (beat) so that the tune and tonal quality of the chime may be adjusted to please the user.
It is still a further object of the invention to provide an inexpensive, easily programmable electronic door chime of simple design.